The following relates to data lock mechanisms used in network systems. More specifically the following relates to lock mechanisms used in high availability networks.
Software versioning and revision control system, such as APACHE Subversion (SVN), are file-system based source control systems used to maintain current and historical versions of data files such as source code, web pages, documentation, etc. Backup mechanisms are used to backup the SVN repository into the database and distribute the SVN repository across nodes in the cluster. However, since current versioning and revision control system programs rely on fixed quorum policies, such mechanisms are often ineffective in maintaining synchronous versions of distributed node clusters.
Adding network partitions increases the complexity as such current versioning and revision control system programs often not capable of effectively working with node clusters distributed across partitions, resulting in potential inconsistencies in the repository. The problem is further exacerbated with multiple nodes working in parallel and processing new information on the same assets, especially in high availability environments, where providing the latest info and data consistency is often a top priority.
In the case of a 2-node configuration, if there is a network partition (i.e. both nodes are active but cannot see each other) then each of the nodes is able to write, regardless on what's happening on the other node. When concurrent writes are successful the history of the repositories often diverges. Unfortunately, when the repositories diverge, merging the repositories using current versioning and revision control system programs often becomes a highly complex problem that usually involves human interaction, which because of the complexity and difficulty in determining what changes between the divergent repositories should and should not be merged, may break the space when a corruption occurs rendering services unavailable.
Therefore, a new and improved method and system for locking data in network systems is desired.